Glasgow City Council pledges rapid rubbish response

A number of teams have been set up to respond to reports of problems like fly tipping and dog fouling

Glasgow City Council has promised to "revolutionise" the way the city is maintained with a new environmental task force.

Thirty "rapid response teams" will act on reports fed to a "state-of-the-art command centre" about issues like fly tipping, littering and dog fouling.

The council is setting up new Twitter and Facebook channels so the public can report problems directly.

A major recruitment drive for task force officers is also planned.

Council leader and chairman of the new task force Frank McAveety said it was a service "fit for delivery in the digital age".

"Through Twitter and Facebook the public can directly communicate with us and identify what needs to be done across Glasgow," he said.

"I am determined to make this work. The environmental task force will deliver - the people of Glasgow deserve that."

The task force is being co-ordinated from a "command centre" in Bridgeton

The task force has divided the city into 21 wards, grouped into four cycles. A team will arrive in a ward each week and work on that area before starting the whole process again in a new ward the following week.

There will be specialist units that focus on graffiti removal, public health issues, noise and community payback among others, the authority said.

The task force will not be replacing the council's cleansing department, which empties 23 million bins a year.